Criminal justice reporter

Athens-Clarke County police on Monday said that they had learned the possible identities of thieves who stole a rifle and shotgun during a burglary last week of a home in a northside neighborhood.

The names of suspects surfaced in connection with another burglary that occurred Sunday on Massey Lane.

The victim of that burglary believes her home was broken into in retaliation for her refusal to harbor two teens who showed up at her home soon after the guns were stolen the night of Dec. 17, police said.

The suspects the woman named were in possession of the firearms when they came to her home, police said, but she would not allow them to hide there and told them to leave.

She identified one suspect as a 19-year-old Watkinsville resident and the other as a 17-year-old resident of Sayemore Drive in Athens, according to police.

One of the suspects is known as “Man-Man,” police said, and the other goes by “Bee-Bee.”

The firearms were stolen from a home in the 500 block of Freeman Drive, not far from the home of Sunday’s burglary on Massey Lane, police said. There, someone kicked in a back door and stole a rifle, a shotgun and a gun case, altogether valued at $750.

In Sunday’s burglary in which the suspects’ names came up, a back door was kicked in between 5:55-6:30 p.m. and a laptop computer and two TVs, altogether valued at $900 were stolen, police said.

Anyone with information on these suspects should call Athens-Clarke police at (706) 456-5900.

OnlineAthens.com aims to foster constructive, respectful civic conversation. With your help, we will provide a friendly, safe, easy to use place on the Web for everyone in the area to share not only opinions but also information of community interest. Racist, harassing, abusive and libelous comments will not be tolerated.